Hand tool for opening bottles and cans



@cfi. 16, 1923. 1,471,027

0. A. HANFORD HAND TOOL FOR OPENING BOTTLES AND CANS Filed April 12 1922 .3 L. I r 19 Patented Oct. 16,1923.

" IZIJNITED STATES ORRIN' A. EANIORD, OF PASADENA, CALIFORNIA.

HAND TOOL FOR OPENING BOTTLES AND CANS.

Application filed April 12, 1922. Serial ll o. 552,012.

To all whom. it may conoeim:

Be it known that I, 01mm A. HANroRo,-a citizen of the United States, residing at Pasadena, in the county of Los Angeles 6 and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Hand Tool for Opening Bottles and Cans, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a portable hand 10 tool for capping, sealing, and unsealing the mouth or head of bottles, and for the opening of scaled and pressed lids, tops, or covers of sheet-metal cans.

The prime object of the invention is the provision of simple, durable, economical, and thoroughly efiicient means consisting of what is known as a combination-tool for accomplishing a number of different results; while a further object of the invention is the rovision of a device of peculiar formation, including novel means which may be utilized for capping, sealing and unsealing bottles, and for opening sheet-metal cans provided with sealed, pressed, or

2 snapped lids or'tops, as will hereinafter be described.

The foregoing and such other objects as may appear from the ensuing description are accomplished by thenovel features of construction, arrangement, location and combination of-parts hereinafter more fully de scribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, it being understood that slight changes in the precise form,

proportions, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departin from the spirit or sacrificing any of the a vantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming i a part of this specification, it will be seen that Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in sectional elevation showing the tool embodying my invention and showing a crown cap seated on a bottle head;

Fig.2 is a similar view showing the cap and tool as they appear. upon the bottle at the conclusion of the capping and sealing 60 operation;

Fig.- 3 is a section taken in the plane of the dotted lines 3-3, Fig. 2, showing a portion of the tool in the position it is caused to assume when unsealing a bottle;

Fig. 4 is a plan of a portion of the tool in the'position of removing the crown cap from a bottle; I

Fig. 5 is a side representation of the tool when employed as a can opener;

Flg. 6 is a plan showing a portion of the tool when utilized in removing the snapped or'pressed-in lids of cans; and

Fig. 7 is a cross-section taken in the plane of the dotted lines 77, Fig.1.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to designate like parts throughout. the several views of thedrawings.

p In the embodiment of my invention as i1 lustrated, and which shows a preferred construction, the numeral 1 indicates the crown of a bottle cap, 2 the skirt, and '3 the annular flaring corrugated flange formed integral with the said cap.

The numeral 4 designates the die member of my improved implement, said die being preferably formed of sheet steel, or other suitable sheet metalpossessing the desired strength and rigidity, and provided with an inner annular wall which is beveled from its bottom edge upwardly and inwardly at 5, said wall being-gradually inclined upwardly and inwardly andterminating with an inner integral solid top wall G-thereby forming a chamber within said die member for the reception of the cap 2, when said cap shall have been scaled to the bottle top, as clearly shown in 'Fig. 2.

The frame member 7 is formed of a.'single piece of solid wire forming a plurality of horizontal portions fixedly secured together and possessing the desired strength or the purposes requlred, the inner end portion of said wire terminating with a sharpened point 8, and the other end terminating at 9 in the form of a loop, which embraces the parallel horizontally arranged portion 9' of the wire, said wire being so bent as to form an auxiliary extended rectangular frame portion 10, which is flattened and sharpened at the point 11 for the purposes hereinafter described. The outer end portion of the frame member or wire is fixedl confined and secured within the beaded ower end portion 12 of the die member, the two portions of the wire as it emerges from said beaded portion being preferably soldered or electrically welded together at 13, to form a solid, stron and unitary structure, and to hold the dle member firmly and rigidly on the frame.

Loosely connected to the parallel portions 9 and the auxiliary frame portion 10, and slidable thereon, is an adjustable member 14, preferably formed of sheet steel, provided with a downwardly extended triangularshaped integral cutter blade 15, and a depending guide or gage member 16, adapted to frictionally engage the peripheral edge of the can 17 to follow the cutter when the opener is being operated. It will be obvious that due to the pivotal connection of the sharpened point 8 through the central portion of the can, and the loose connection of the slidable member, the cutter blade will follow the contour of the can body, and' sever it from the can body.

"remove the said lid or top, as will be readily The integral end of the rectangular frame portion 10 is flattened and sharpened at 11, so that it may be forced beneath and around the pressed-o1" snapped 'lid or top 18 of either ro'und or square cans to pry open and understood by reference to Fig. 6.

In Fig. 1, the implement is illustrated as it appears on the top of a bottle before the sealing operation is performed, and showing the crown cap retained on the top of the bottle with the lower surface of the die member resting thereon and the lower inner beveled portion of said member in contact with the skirt of the cap, thus when a sharp blow is imparted by a suitable mallet to the upper outer surface-of the die member with suflicient force, said die member is forced downwardly and caused to assume the position shown in Fig. 2 with the lower portion of the die member in contact with the sk rt portion of the cap, thus forcing the flaring corrugated portion of the cap inwardly around the bottom or lower portion of the annular bead formed around the outer top portion of the bottle neck, thereby capping and tightly'sealingthe mouth or top of said bottle.

\Vhen it is desired to unseal the bottle and remove the crown cap it is simply necessary to place the inner port on 19 of the frame on top of the cap, then slidably adjust the front edge ofthe slidable member 14 to a position beneath the lower edge of the skirt of the cap. then by grasping the diemember and lifting upwardly the said cap will be readily removed, as will be readily obvious, since the die member being rigidly connected to the wire serves as a desirable handle for this purpose.

It will be perceived that the die member being rigidly secured to the frame, it is adapted to perform a double function,

namely, that of holding and sealing the crown cap to a bottle top and serving as a handle when the operator is engaged in severing a can top or unsealing a bottle.

It is believed that the construction and operation of the invention as illustrated and described will be readily understood without the requirements of a more extended explanation, hence the same has been omitted.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An implement of the character described, comprising a frame member formed ''of a single piece of wire with a looped outer end adapted to have a die member rigidly secured thereto, a plurality of horizontal portions fixedly secured together, one end of said wire terminating in a sharpened point and its other end terminating witha loop embracing saidv horizontal portions, said frame including an extended rectangular auxiliary frame formed bysaid wire, and a slidable member adjustably secured to said auxiliary frame.

2. An implement of the character described, comprising a frame member formed of a single piece of wire having a looped outer end adapted for fixedly securing a die member thereto and having a sharpened point at its inner terminal, a plurality of parallel horizontal portions, the other terminal of said wire being formed in a loop which surrounds said horizontal portions,-

said frame including a laterally extended auxiliary frame formed by said wire, a slidable member adjustably supported on said rectangular frame, and a cutter blade and a gage member depending from said slidable member and integral therewith.

3. An implement of the character described, comprising a frame member formed of a single piece of wire with a loop at its outer end adapted to have a die member fixed thereto, a plurality of parallel horizontal portions with the inner end of one of the horizontal portions forming a loop around the other horizontal portion and terminating with a sharpened point, and the other terminal end of said wire forming a loop around both of the horizontal portions, said frame including an auxiliary laterally extended frame formed from said wire near its inner end portion, a slidable member ad- ORRIN A. HANFORD. 

